UFC TOPS STRIKEFORCE WITH BROCK LESNAR!

Bethlehem, PA– 2011 is barely two weeks old, yet it’s making “big” waves as far as MMA news is concerned. One of the biggest, (no pun intended), news stories so far has been the upcoming/impending Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament. This tourney features eight of the world’s best heavyweight fighters, including two of the top five in champion Alistair Overeem and former number one pound for pound fighter Fedor Emelianenko.

LESNAR & SANTOS READY FOR TV FACE OFF

To counter this heavyweight bonanza, the UFC dropped a gargantuan bombshell themselves this past week. They announced that the coaches for the upcoming season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter‘ reality series would be number one heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos and former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Not only that, but they also stated the two will fight at the season finale and that the winner will get the next title shot against current champion Cain Velasquez.

SANTOS TO BATTLE BROCK FOR CAIN FIGHT!

While this move may make sense for a couple of reasons, business wise that is, it doesn’t make sense as far as the heavyweight title picture is concerned. Then again, when has common sense ever been a factor where dollars and cents are involved? The fact that Dos Santos (12-1, 8 KO’s, 3 subs) is riding a seven fight win streak, the last six in the UFC, and Lesnar (5-2, 2 KO’s, 2 subs) just lost his last fight against Velasquez means nothing when it comes to money; not to mention that Dos Santos has won as many fights in a row that Lesnar has in his MMA life.

A DIFFERENCE (OR MONOPOLY) BETWEEN UFC & BOXING BODIES?

While UFC President Dana White may publicly say he covets his titles and “doesn’t want them to become watered down and meaningless as in boxing,” the truth is mixed martial arts, like any other professional sport is driven by the almighty dollar. This is why the UFC is full of crock; I mean Brock. Brock Lesnar. Like him or not, means ratings and Pay-Per-View buys, which in turn equals money. That means that a long as his heart is in it and he’s under contract, Brock it is.

IS WWE A BETTER FORMAT FOR MONSTER-LIKE GUY?

Yet, this may be a problem in the long run. Rumors, unconfirmed, have been circulating that Lesnar has no real desire to keep fighting as he’s realized he doesn’t like to get hit. Geez, what a surprise? Now I’m no genius, but I would think that fear of getting hit is not a good thing to possess if you fight for a living. This has been substantiated with reports that in his last camp he even refused to spar because he didn’t like the contact. While the rumors and reports may be unconfirmed, his reaction to contact in his last two fights is not.

DIDN’T REACT LIKE A CHAMPION

Upon getting punched in the face by both Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez, Lesnar’s response in both instances were to crumble and run away instead of standing and trading. Granted, he is a wrestler by trade, not a boxer, but even the most novices of fighters instinctively would fight back upon getting punched in the face. It is a natural instinct, for those that have it in them to fight and I’m not sure Brock Lesnar has that.

CRITICS WERE NOT TAKING THE PUNCHES

I’m not saying he doesn’t have heart, because any man who is willing to step into a cage and fight, let alone seven times, has to have some heart. However, desire is something else. Does he have the desire to continue to step into the cage, this is the question? Lesnar has shown a track record of quitting in past careers such as professional wrestling and football; though he never really got started in the latter. Yet, with millions of dollars already made, overcoming a near career ending illness, a rumored one more fight left on his current contract and Vince McMahon dangling even more millions to return to pro wrestling, one has to wonder where Lesnar’s heart truly is.

UFC FEELS BROCK IS IN RIGHT PLACE

Dana White is banking, literally, that Lesnar’s heart is in MMA. Regardless, he has him through his next fight and he’s going to ride him as long as he can. Thus, the reason he got the coaching stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. This will mean coaching and taping for at least six weeks, then at least three months of television ratings. Ultimately the fight with Dos Santos and with Velasquez currently on the shelf for six-eight months with a torn shoulder, the timing is perfect. Not to mention that I think Brock will eventually lose to Dos Santos, thus setting up the showdown we were supposed to get anyway.

LESNAR & DOD SANTOS WILL BE ON PPV

However, what if Brock wins? This could end up being quite a dilemma if he decides he no longer has it in him to continue fighting. It’s not like he hasn’t done it before; he left the WWE while he was their champion and on top of the wrestling world. While this move will be fruitful for the UFC in the short term, in the long run it has the potential to be quite disastrous and embarrassing for Dana White. Only time will tell if a Dos Santos right hand will resolve that problem.

19 comments

Good article Sammy. In the end, its the product that sells and truth be told, Lesner brings the fans so it makes both sense and cents to bring Lesner to fight. The way Lesner appeared to not want to trade is quite the contrary to how he seemed so invincible to many fans (ain’t that right Pedro?) not to long ago…Imagine Lesner in the Strikeforce tourney! That would pretty much shake up the MMA world, in regards to fan attention. I could see Rogers, Alister and Fedor giving Brock a good run for his money…We’ll see where Lesner’s heart takes him. He seems like a pretty good guy, so I wish him well..

In the essence of fairplay, here is a link to a very interesting and factual article written by a colleague of mine, which thoroughly explains the business side of the UFC and fighters pays. If your read it in its entirety, you will see that both Bradguy and myself have valid points that are correct in our our assessments:

It’s easy to state reported figures obtained from the internet. The point that appears to be falling on deaf ears here is don’t believe that those reported figures are the end all in terms of a MMA fighter’s salary. You’d be surprised at how well fighters in the UFC are compensated outside of what is reported by Dana White; I know this first hand to be true from the mouths of many fighters I have spoken to. Yet, you want to feel as though you know the facts and are humbling me in some fashion. Truth is, you’re wrong; on both counts.

The UFC is pulling in huge profits from their PPV shows and the fighters get a very tiny slice of the UFC’s profits. The fans pay to see the MMA fighters in fights and the fighters deserve far more than what Dana White is paying them. If there was ever any group that needed a union, it’s the MMA fighters.

It’s a rough conversion estimate as there’s other factors to consider in converting, and a financial professional may come out with maybe 5 million dollars instead of 7 million, but my simple conversion in the ballpark.
Television wasn’t invented yet, no PPVs: 7 million is very impressive.
$40K for Carwin in “The Biggest Fight in UFC History” my rosy red rectum; an average American makes more than that!

In 1892, Corbett earned $35 thousand for a single fight at a time when the average American earned just $427 per year.
Converted to today’s money, Corbett earned about 3.5 million dollars.

Listen, dude, here’s a solid piece of advice:
everyone gets humbled every now and then in a debate, and this ol’ fight fan here knows from experience that the best course of action when you find yourself in an indefensible circumstance is to simply concede if your ammo belt of knowledge is all used up just when the other guy is getting warmed up.

Thanks for being my guide, because you proved my point. 100 years ago Jack Johnson got $30,000-$60,000 for a fight, yet it took 100 years for current top boxers to get 12-46 million. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say it won’t take 100 years for MMA fighters to get millions of dollars, especially when Brock just got a half million in his last fight, which doesn’t count sponsorship and bonuses.

RE:”…the sport of MMA is 17 years old, while boxing has had over a century to get to the level of revenues fighters are demanding.”

Lay back and let the bradguy be your guide, :

Boxing was 17 years old in 1909 and Jack Johnson was Heavyweight Champion.
Johnson had beat Champ Tommy Burns for the Title on Dec 26, 1908; Tommy Burns was paid $30 thousand. How’s about Shane Carwin’s $40 thousand in UFC over a century later?!

In 1910, July 4th, over 100 years ago, Jack Johnson earned $60 thousand in his defense against James J. Jeffries: The Battle of the Century.
Including motion picture rights and bonuses, Johnson made over $120 thousand!
Jeffries also made over $100 thousand for the fight.

Yep, $120 thousand in 1910 when the average American made just $750 per year!
Johnson’s purse works out to about 7 million in today’s money.

What did Carwin and Lesnar for that matter get paid again in the UFC’s self-proclaimed “Biggest Fight in UFC History”, a hundred years after Johnson/Jeffries “Battle of the Century”?!

In 1892, Jim Corbett was paid $35 thousand against John L. Sullivan.
Carwin’s 40 K to show, 40 K to win in 2010 in the UFC’s self-proclaimed “[I]Biggest Fight in UFC History[/I]” is looking more-and-more problematic!

What are current top MMA fighters earning; thay’re not making as much as top boxers from 100 years ago!!!
Current top boxers make 12 million up to 46 million for a single fight nowadays.

The point is MMA desperately needs [B]a Fighter’s Union[/B] because UFC is a billion dollar company yet paid top Challenger Shane Carwin only $40 thousand for the so-called “[I]Biggest Fight in UFC History[/I].”

I call [I]shenanigans[/I]..

In closing, the BEST combat-athlete will [I]ALWAYS[/I] go where the BEST money is, and unless Dana White starts paying a lot more to UFC fighters, then we’ll never see the BEST world-class combat-athletes ever enter UFC.

[I]Oh yeah[/I], Jack Johnson and James J. Jeffries were both very capable wrestlers and trained grappling regularly in camp as part of conditioning program.
Their historic fight was scheduled for 45 rounds; no gassing in 4 minutes for the likes of Johnson and Jeffries.

Bottom line here is the UFC fighters should not even complain. These guys wouldn’t b able to draw flies on their own with their own promotional company. The success of MMa lies in the business model of the UFC. I mean look at some of the garbage they put on PPV and they still sell in excess of 300,000 buys? People buy the brand and the brand is where the hype is at. They know how to market their product and if there were other outlets where fighters could make comparable money they’d go there. They actually should be thanking the UFC because without them they’d either be working construction somewhere or if they have a college education struggling to make over 40,000 a year to feed their families. I think the way for these guys to make extra bucks is through endorsements, which I believe many successful fighters have been offered endorsement contracts. I think this idea of MMa fighters being underpaid is overrated. I mean Carwin was an absolute nobody before the fight and needed a win to get paid what he deserved. 40,000 isn’t a lot for a shot at the title, but when you the level of talent or lack there of in the heavyweight division Carwin got the opportunity which within itself is worth a lot more than 40,000. Unfortunately he lost. To make a long story short, MMA sells because of the depth on their PPV cards and not necessarily because of one particular matchup. Most MMa fans would be satisfied watching backyard brawls on youtube. These are the types some of fans that follow the sport, while boxing is usually composed of an older and much more mature audience.

First, in response to Roberto, while the focus of my piece was the UFC, I’m berating them here, not praising them; so not sure how I’m riding the “UFC garbage train.” As for the money issue, while I agree the fighters should get more, two factors are being ignored. One, MMA fighters versus boxers get compensated beyond their reported salaries by sponsors, which boxers don’t have, and bonuses outside of what also is reported. Also, we have to remember that the sport of MMA is 17 years old, while boxing has had over a century to get to the level of revenues fighters are demanding.

Braguy, finally someone said it, Dana White is nothing but an egomaniac. He’s alwaysgotta say some corny line and act like a badass. He’s nothing but a boxercise teacher. The fighters get used up mostly after five good fights, then what? Every fight is a spectacular once in a lifetime can’t miss pay per view for 50 dollars. Strikeforce does it right, the top fighters face each othern the challengers get a chance to face one another to move up the ladder.

Good job badguy ur spot on!!!!! These dudes put their lives on the line then Dana WHITE gives a 50k bonus and acts like he is doing something. Freekin azzhole!!!! He acts like he is the star and the fighters are just furniture.

PPV buys are definitely comparable between UFC shows­ and big Boxing shows, but a serious issue is that Shane­ Carwin was paid only 40 thousand dollars to fight Brock­ Lesnar in the UFC’s self-proclaimed “Biggest­ Fight in UFC History.”

If the PPVs sell­ comparable numbers, then why did Carwin only get paid­ $40 thousand while Manny PacMan Pacquiao got a 12­ million dollar guarantee against Clottey, and a 15­ million dollar guarantee against Margarito?

That’s­ just the guarantee too as Pacquiao also got additional­ money from a percentage of the total PPV buys.
For­ instance, Pacquiao’s guaranteed purse against Cotto­ was 13 million dollars, but with his PPV percentage,­ Pacquiao earned about 22 million dollars for the Cotto­ fight.
Why are top UFC fighters so grossly underpaid­ relative to top boxers when UFC sells comparable PPV­ numbers to Boxing, even surpassing Boxing PPVs at­ times?!

For fighter pay, UFC only gives up about 10 to­ 15 % of profits to be divided up amongst ALL the­ fighters.
85 to 90% of profits go right to the­ company, Dana White, and the Fertittas.

Eh, it’s on­ the MMA fighters to stand up and fight for their rights­ by forming an MMA Fighters Union because MMA isn’t­ run like a real sport right now. In Boxing, the best­ fighter goes to the promoter with the highest bid, but­ the business model in UFC essentially makes the fighter­ a powerless employee of a company. A monopoly. No rights. Not a­ leg to stand on. They walk on eggshells around a­ leech of a company president.

MMA can’t survive in the long­ run under the current UFC (WWE?) business model which­ will ultimately return MMA to being a fringe­ sport.
Rebuilding from the ground up ain’t gonna­ effin’ happen, so the fighters forming an MMA ­Fighters Union is the only action I can see that will­ result in them having some rights and not getting­ totally ripped off by the UFC.

For spit’s sake,­ Juan Manuel Marquez is a not even­ a big draw in Boxing,­ yet 135 lb Marquez was paid 1.4­ million dollars against Katsidis just 2 months ago.

Slammin this is exactly what’s wrong with sports. U give 2 lines to the real show and spend the rest of the article on the sideshow???? That tourney strikeforce is doing is SICK!!!!! Overeem, fedor, barnnet, werdum, and 2 tough guys in Rodgers and arlovski. Not to mention big head silva. That should be ur focus. And stop the UFC garbage train. All these ppv’s every month. It’s BS. If they really wanted to do right by the fans. They should sign with HBO and throw most their fights on cable. Then do big fights ppv. Strikeforce is coming up fast

White is only able to talk up his management skills because he is blessed with a fan base of blind followers who are willing to swallow whatever oozes. Normal people would have realized it undermines the sport to fast-track this guy to the heavyweight championship in just four fights and then having him look this bad in his loss and his subsequent disappearing act – could have been forseen since his past response to hitting a plateau has always been to pack up and change sports. It showed some forethought to fence him in contrctually but I wonder if they’ll get a real effort or just bad drama seeing as it seems he’d rather be elsewhere.

This is a gamble for Brock, Junior DosSantos might be the best puncher in MMA. I think Junior’s punching is so good that he should consider going into boxing. Brock has strong takedowns and he has to put Junior on his back, if he can do it he wins. If Junior can avoid the takedowns he will KO Brock.